Not Alone [Doctor Who] {1}

Chapter 18

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you," Suki said as she, The Doctor, Cathica and I stood by the elevator. She sighed happily and turned to The Doctor, "Floor five hundred, thank you."

"I didn't do anything," The Doctor said. "Well, you're my lucky charm," Suki said. "All right. I'll hug anyone," The Doctor said and Suki hugged him. I bit my inside cheek lightly and scratched the back of my head before walking over to Adam, who stood a bit away from us. "It's not that bad," I said. "With the head thing?" He asked. "Well, she's closed it now," I said.

"Yeah, but. It's everything. It freaks me out. And I just need to. If I could just cool down. Sort of acclimatise," Adam said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Maybe I could just go and sit on the observation deck," He suggested, "Would that be all right? Soak it in, you know. Pretend I'm a citizen of the year two hundred thousand."

"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked. "No it's alright. You stick with The Doctor," He said, "I know you'd rather be with him. It's going to take a better man than me to get between you two. Anyway, I'll be on the deck."

I reached in my pocket and pulled out the TARDIS key, "Take the TARDIS key. Just in case it gets a bit too much," I said. "Yeah, like it's not weird in there," Adam joked. I smiled a little and gave him the key. He nodded to me before walking off. I sighed and turned back to The Doctor, Suki and Cathica.

"Oh, my God, I've got to go. I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry. Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye," Suki said and ran into the elevator before the doors closed. "Good riddance," Cathica said.

"You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs," The Doctor said. "We won't," She said, "Once you go to Floor five hundred you never come back."

"Huh," Me and The Doctor said at the same time as we both shared a look. Cathica started to led us through the cafeteria, "Have you ever been up there?" The Doctor asked. "I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few," She replied.

"We need to go back to the newsroom," He said before going off and Cathica and I quickly followed him back to the room. The Doctor sat on the broadcast chair, starting to play with the buttons on the chair's arm. I stood on his side and watched what he was doing over his shoulder.

"Look, they only give us 20 minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?" Cathica asked. "But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?" The Doctor asked.

"I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived," She replied, "That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all." She stared at The Doctor as he stared back at her with a frown, "You're not management, are you." The Doctor looked at me, "At last. She's clever."

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything," Cathica said. "Don't you even ask?" The Doctor asked. "Well, why would I?" She asked. "You're a journalist," He commented.

"Why's all the crew human?" I asked. "What's that got to do with anything?" Cathica asked me. "She's right," The Doctor agreed with me. "There's no aliens on board. Why?"

"I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything," Cathica said. "Then where are they?" The Doctor asked. "I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had to, what with all the threats," She said. "What threats?" He asked.